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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

From Mikes and Dislikes"Talkin' Prairie Triangle of Inspiration (A.K.A. Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell Make Their Great Escape)" on the mysterious Saskatchewan-Manitoba-Minnesota Prairie Triangle of folk singer-songwriters:

You've heard of the Bermuda Triangle, right? But have you ever heard of the Prairie Triangle of Inspiration? It's not a place where people get lost forever, like in that infamous triangle around Bermuda. No, it's a place that people get the hell out of as soon as possible... though not before becoming incredibly inspired and creative.

I'm talking about the Saskatoon-Winnipeg-Duluth/Hibbing Triangle. And if those three/four places don't mean anything to you, well then you're probably not much of a music fan. For it was from within this one triangle out on the cultural wasteland of the Prairies, or, if you like, Great Plains, that three of the greatest songwriters/musicians/artists of the past 50 years all emerged. I'm talking about Neil, Bob and Joni, of course - that is, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.

That's right, three of the greatest songwriters/performers/musical geniuses of the past half century all come from that relatively small triangle in the middle of nowhere.

Ah...innaresting attempt but there's a bit of a problem - Hibbing is NOT on the prairie. As a Minnesotan who spends a whole lotta time up on the Iron Range, I can tell you that unless a tamarack swamp qualifies as prairie in your book, there isn't any prairie near Hibbing for about 150 miles. Hibbing and Winnipeg have the following in common: both are cold (Hibbing gets more snow); people say eh! in both places; hockey is a religion in both places. That's about it. Winnipeg is much more cosmopolitan, Hibbing has lots more Finns, Hibbing is built on and surrounded by iron mines (no mining in Winnipeg, and Hibbing folks tend to be very socialistic - to the point of neo-communistic (trust me, I know - my pa was one). Winnipeg is much more conservative.

Oh, and to add to the above comment, one of my business partners played in a band with Bob in Hibbing in High School and Bob was not a hayseed. Hibbing is also the home of Kevin McCale, the prosectutor of Charles Manson, and the birth place of Greyhound Bus Co. Robert Mondovi (vinter) is a native Hibbing-ite.

Well, for goodness' sake, Mike, I always have thought of myself as a music fan, but after reading your post, I am questioning whether or not I really am a music fan, since the Saskatoon-Winnepeg-Duluth/Hibbing Triangle means very little to me, except for wondering whether that big hairy beast, the Saskatuan might have been named after being sighted in the area of Saskatoon. Not sure. You know. Big Foot. Was it named after the area of Saskatoon? Gosh, Mike. What the heck. And here all of these years I thought I was a huge music fan. Thank you for straightening me out on that. What was I thinking? Silly me! Or...wait a minute, I guess I could still be a music fan since I have heard of Big Foot, and he might have been named after the area of Saskatoon! Yay! I feel better now! I am a music fan after all! Thanks!

Lady...you maybe a music fan but not a bigfoot fan....it is. Bigfoot is called Sasquatch...it is. A friend of mine played in a band with Sasquatch in high school and he says the man can wail on the guitar, Piano, Bass and Banjo and he had an insatiable appetite blond women and drugs...they used to call him Hoover back in the day...it is. Then, one day, he took like 5000 micrograms of LSD and flipped his lid. I hear he now lives with his mother out in the sticks and once or twice a year when he leaves the house the locals like to snap a picture of him for the newspapers....hasn't shaved or got a haircut in years which is a shame cause he's half Italian...it is. Hellava songwriter he was too... I'm told Dylan ripped of a few of his melodies...it is.